Perceptions of work-family role combination and well-being in dual-income parents.

Description

Two hundred and eighty-one dual-income parents (140 men and 141 women) employed full-time, with at least one child aged 12 or younger completed a questionnaire on perceptions of work-family interference and enhancement. It was hypothesized that both types of perceptions would contribute unique variance to explanations of well-being (marital, parenting and job satisfaction) in this sample, and that levels of interference and enhancement may vary by gender and by direction of interference and enhancement. No gender differences in total enhancement were found; however, after controlling for employment and household labour hours, women perceived more total interference and work-to-family interference than did men. There were no gender differences in family-to-work interference, or in direction-specific enhancement. Multiple regression analyses supported hypotheses in that perceptions of interference and enhancement both contributed to explanations of well-being; however, support depended on gender, the direction of interference and enhancement, and the aspect of well-being assessed. Men and women were similar in how specific directions of interference related to well-being. For both men and women, family-to-work interference predicted marital satisfaction, whereas work-to-family interference predicted parenting satisfaction. Men and women differed in how specific directions of enhancement related to well-being. All three aspects of women's well-being were related to one or the other direction of enhancement, whereas only job satisfaction was related to enhancement (work-to-family) for men. Results provide preliminary empirical support for the theory that perceptions of interference and enhancement are independent dimensions of the work-family interface which conjointly influence well-being. Support is also provided for the independence of subtypes or directions of both interference and enhancement. It is concluded that work-family research models should include measures of both enhancement and interference, because exclusion of enhancement measures risks overstating the negative effects and understating the positive effects of work-family role combination. Further, measures should assess direction-specific enhancement and interference, because levels of interference and enhancement and their relation to well-being vary depending on direction of interference and enhancement. Finally, models should continue to test for gender effects, particularly if direction-specific measures of both enhancement and interference are to be used. Implications for families, policy and organizations are discussed.